Puerto Rico native, Wilfredo Robles is an assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Mayaguez, and the new IR-4 State Liaison representing Puerto Rico. Dr Robles completed both his Bachelor’s degree (Animal Sciences) and his Master’s degree (Crop Protection with major in entomology) at the UPR. In 2002, he was hired as a research associate at the UPR Agricultural Experiment Station to evaluate entomological agents as biological control of aquatic plants. In 2004, Wilfredo attended Mississippi State University (MSU) pursuing a Ph.D. in Weed Science. His dissertation was titled “Population Assessment and Herbicide Injury Detection on Aquatic Plants Using Remote Sensing”. This research project involved an interdisciplinary effort among many disciplines such as weed science, geography, biology, and engineering. During his time spent at MSU, he was awarded the Midsouth Aquatic Plant Management Student

Scholarship in 2007 and the Graduate Research Assistant of the Year in 2008. In 2009, Wilfred earned his Ph.D. from MSU.

Since 2009, Wilfredo has been building the weed science program at UPR Mayaguez and teaching undergraduate and graduate classes such as Principles in Weed Science and Mode of Action of Herbicides. His research interests involve the use of herbicides and biopesticides as tools in integrated pest management on tropical crops. Throughout his career, he has authored and co-authored nine peer reviewed articles, 16 pro- ceedings articles, and more than 25 oral presentations in both English and Spanish.